When Worlds Collide
by MissusMalice
Summary: Mrs. Norris, the wife of Filch, is stuck as an animagus. She still loves him, but now a new love is budding between her and Crookshanks.
1. A Declaration of Love

How long had it been? A few decades at the very least. Only God knows when she last had a decent conversation, though she doubted even God cared about her anymore. Anyone who had known Rosalie Norris Filch, now thought she was dead. Amber eyes opened, staring up at the once handsome face of her lover, her husband. Filch had taken wonderful care of her when she first stumbled through this new, awkward world, but their love grew stronger through the triumphs and the failures.

With an elogant stretch of her hindquarters, Mrs. Norris took to all fours, the silence of the night almost penetrable, seeming to haunt and tease her. 'Oh, if only I could remember what colour his hair had been… Or mine for that matter…' Now, not many know what truly happened to sweet, loving Rosalie Filch, but Argus knew. A few years into their marriage, Rosalie got confident in her magical powers, trying to impress her lover, she attempted to become an animagus. But then she found she couldn't change back, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do it. She was stuck now, in her new form: the form of a cat.

Restless paws kneaded her husband's chest, eyes staring around the room. She had to get out. Now. With a lick to his cheek, she took off for the corridors of Hogwarts, this wasn't the first time she had needed to leave the room and walk. The familiar sights and scents came to her, making her walk faster. That strange male cat's scent was back, and as usual he followed her.

Angrily, she turned to face her stalker, lips pulling back to bare her teeth, fur fluffing out and a slight growl starting to form in the back of her throat. But this male offered no returning challenge, he held something strange in his jaws, something brightly coloured and wrapped in paper. Gingerly, he stepped forward into the moonlight, his ugly, squashed face innocent.

Mrs. Norris paused in her growl, the fur on her back laying flat as he set the present before her, leaving without looking back at her, his tail low, showing total submission. As all know, curiosity killed the cat… And she gave into hers. Nervously, she nudged the paper away with her paw, revealing a bouquet of bird feathers. To humans, this was a disgusting gift, to Mrs. Norris, this was a declaration of love.


	2. Discovery

Chapter One: Discovery

Days passed without Mrs. Norris seeing neither hide nor hair of Crookshanks, whom had stayed cleverly hidden. Without even realizing it, she had returned almost daily to the same spot in which she had confronted him, though he did not appear at any times. Days rolled over into a week, then a week and a half. Time was passing far too slowly since he had last shown himself, and each day became agonizing.

On the tenth day, Mrs. Norris set out in search of him, no longer able to settle with being stood-up on any occasion no matter how mundane it was. Starting with the grounds, Mrs. Norris intended to search the school, though her search ended there, her eyes falling upon that ginger tom as soon as she stepped outside. He was with a girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes. She wasn't a very pretty girl and she looked far too smart.

Agile movements brought her closer to her new love, her ears pricked, tail stationary while she moved, her paws hitting the ground gently, so as to make little noise. However stealthy her approach may have been, the girl spotted her and despite the fact she was doing nothing wrong, she stopped in mid-sentence, glaring at her. Crookshanks, however, stared at her with curious eyes, his ears pricked and head cocked to the side in an inquisitive manner. He was listening and aware of her presence.

Hermione released her cat when he started to struggle, his tail flicking, telling Mrs. Norris to follow him, already starting off towards the Forbidden Forest. For a moment, she hesitated, and in that moment he turned, staring back at her with almost sad eyes, tail flicking again, asking her once more to follow him. With a flick of her tail, she took off after him, catching up with ease, brushing her flank against his, purring softly. This was perhaps the most feline thing she had done in quite a while, it felt almost… Good. No, it felt good. It almost felt great.

For the longest of times, Hermione stared after the two cats, the playful mood in which Mrs. Norris had approached Crookshanks and the new spring in her tom's step, her jaw dropping. This couldn't possibly be happening… Was Mrs. Norris in love with Crookshanks? She couldn't let this happen. With a glare at the female cat, she stood up and stalked off towards the castle, Filch on her mind, preparing what she would say to him.

The two cats – who were oblivious to what was going to happen behind their backs – disappeared into the shadows of the trees, which sheltered them from the sun, though Crookshanks didn't stop there. He continued to lead her deeper into the forest, and with much hesitation on Mrs. Norris' behalf, farther from others. The trees got close, and it seemed to Mrs. Norris that for a long time Crookshanks was lost, though they started to thin out, opening up into a wonderfully sunlight patch of forest, luscious grass everywhere, an array of flowers all around.

With a pleased purr, Crookshanks strode to the center of the clearing, sitting upon his haunches, facing Mrs. Norris, whom had stopped at the edge, staring at him. Hard muscles were now evident on Crookshanks' figure, powerful paws and recently sharpened claws didn't exactly make him look like the most friendliest thing in the world, though his posture was not derogatory, it was quite… Relaxed. With a small sound of curiosity, she entered the clearing, brushing her cheek against his.

Hermione stopped outside the Teacher's Lounge door, her knuckles rapping upon it, McGonagall opening the door. "Yes, Miss Granger? What can I help you with?" She asked, staring down at the girl with inquisitive eyes. "I'm looking for Mr. Filch, is he here?" With a brisk nod, McGonagall stepped aside, allowing Argus Filch to leave the Lounge. "What do you want, Granger?" As polite as ever. "Mr. Filch, may I speak to you in private?" With a low grunt, he led her to his office, taking a seat behind his desk.

"What do you want?" He repeated, glaring at the girl, his mind elsewhere with Mrs. Norris, whom he hadn't seen all day. "I'm very busy, hurry it up, girl." Hermione wasn't impressed with his attitude, and she could tell he wouldn't be very happy with her once she delivered him the news as to what was happening. "Mr. Filch, I have something to tell you about Mrs. Norris…" She began, making direct eye contact, "And you're not going to like it.

Things had certainly gotten farther than Hermione with Crookshanks and Mrs. Norris, whom were closer than ever, both purring in unison. Mrs. Norris was certain that a love had bloomed right in front of her eyes, including her. Noses touched, affection passed between touch, a rough tongue brushing her forehead. Love… It was fresh… It was passionate… It was… Hers.

"Mrs. Norris? What have you done with her?" He snapped, eyes narrowing at Hermione, though Hermione didn't respond quite yet. "I haven't done anything to Mrs. Norris, Filch, let me get it out first before you jump to conclusions." Her voice was amazingly calm, but she couldn't allow this to happen. "I know where Mrs. Norris is, she went to the Forbidden Forest…" A pause, then she continued, "From what I saw, she's with my cat, Crookshanks. She walked up and then he walked off and she followed."

Filch's eyes filled with despair, a pain that Hermione wasn't used to seeing. For once in all of her years at Hogwarts she wanted to comfort him, though neither touch nor words could heal the pain she saw in his eyes. "Mrs. Norris… With a male cat?" He asked, as though he couldn't register it quite yet. "I… I don't believe it." He said, suddenly shelling up, his eyes hard as rock once more, as though the despair had never been there in the first place, yet Hermione could still see a flicker of it in his eyes when he turned away from her.

"Get out of my office. NOW!" He pointed a grubby finger at the door and Hermione left without another word to him, she knew he'd figure it out sooner or later. As soon as she shut the door behind herself, she heard muffled sobs through the door, deep-cut sobs that proved what she had seen in his eyes. Hermione's eyebrows knit together in the center, wondering why Filch was so upset by finding out his cat was possibly her cat's mate. She didn't want Mrs. Norris with Crookshanks because then she'd be around a lot more and then… Well, Mrs. Norris would rat on them.

With a sigh, Hermione turned back towards Filch's door, knocking gently. "Filch, open up." She said, she heard the chair move and sound that hinted he was searching for something clean to wipe away his tears with. "Enter only if you must." He said finally, and she opened the door. "Filch, I don't like you and you don't like me. That's obvious. It's also obvious you don't want Mrs. Norris with Crookshanks. I don't want her with him either… I propose that we work together to stop them from meeting each other… Deal?" She held out a slim hand, direct eye contact initiated once again.

With a shaking hand, Filch grabbed hers and shook it firmly. "Deal." He muttered, staring away from her, at the picture of a beautiful woman, releasing Hermione's hand, eyes watering up again. "What are your plans?" He asked, turning back to look at her, she was staring at the photo as well, though her eyes didn't stray from it, "As soon as they come out, we take both of them. I'll keep Crookshanks busy and you keep Mrs. Norris busy." She said, folding her hands in her lap. "Sounds fair."

"May I ask you something, Filch?" Hermione asked, eyes moving from the picture to Filch, eyes meeting his. "What is it?" His voice was numb of emotion now, eyes blank. "Who is she?" She didn't need to point at the woman in the photograph, he knew before she even asked that she would want to know. "She… Is my wife." He said reluctantly, staring at the desk in front of her. "She's… No one knows what happened to her." He lied, closing his eyes as memories of their wedding washed over him, though they disappeared when the click of his door sounded in his ears. He wept in solitude, memories now flooding his mind of his happy wedding and life before fate decided to torture him.

Things had happened so quickly she wasn't even sure that it had in fact happened. Both cats lay curled up on the grass, panting slightly, purring and affectionately grooming the other's fur. Mrs. Norris had forgiven him for disappearing for a few days, he had his own life to live and she had her own that she was supposed to have been living but she found it hard to live it without him with her. The thought that she might be pregnant with his… Kittens, frightened her. What would her dearest Argus think? Was it right that she had mated with this male cat? Or was it still considered cheating?

Worries nagged at Mrs. Norris, her muzzle pressed to Crookshanks' flank, standing up and flicking her tail across his ear in a 'let's go' motion. With a long yawn, he led her out of the Forbidden Forest, though Hermione lay in wait for him, snatching him up the moment he appeared from the trees, running off towards the castle. With a yowl, Mrs. Norris took after the girl, though Filch was standing at the door, calling her. Anguish filled her eyes as she saw Hermione change directions, towards the lake now. Hesitant at first, though sadness pulled at her heart, she started towards Filch, tail dragging on the ground, eyes staring at Crookshanks.


End file.
